Key Documents of German-Jewish History
A Digital Source Edition

Steffi Wittenberg im Exil (Interview)
Steffi Wittenberg was born on February 15, 1926 in Hamburg and lived there with her Jewish family. She attended the Jahnschule, today’s Ida-Ehre-Schule in Bogenstraße. But after Jews were no longer allowed to be taught with non-Jews, she transferred to the Talmud Tora Schule. However, as the Jewish population became more and more oppressed, her parents desperately searched for countries that issued visas. Eventually they obtained four visas for Uruguay, whereupon Steffi Wittenberg’s father and brother emigrated alone at first. In December 1939, mother and daughter followed. They traveled by ship from Hamburg to Antwerp and from there to Montevideo.

Lucy Borchard(t). A shipowner from Hamburg
Lucy Borchard(t) was the only Jewish female shipowner in the 20th century. Before her career as a shipowner, she worked as a teacher. After the death of her husband Richard Borchardt, she took over the business of his company: the Fairplay Towage.
With the beginning of the National Socialism Lucy Borchard(t) began to stand up for Jewish youths by educating them in her shipping company. Only in this way they had the possibility to emigrate to Palestine. This method was called seafaring hachshara. In this way, probably 38 young people could be saved.
Due to the political conditions under National Socialism, Lucy Borchard(t) was forced to emigrate to London. However, her shipping company was not completely “Aryanized” because Lucy Borchard(t) had used a trick. She had converted the shipping company into a foundation. This allowed her to take three tugboats with her to London and set up a new tugboat business there.
After World War II, her son Kurt received reparations. He reopened the Fairplay tugboat company in Hamburg, which exists to this day.
Lucy Borchard(t) died in London on February 4, 1967. She lived to the age of 91.

Fred Leser. Family Life
Fred Leser, named Siegmund Manfred Leser, was born in Isestraße 121 in Hamburg in 1927. He was a witness of the Holocaust and the Second World War. The first years of his school life went well. When Fred turned six, he started to go to a school in St. Georg. Its name was “Borgesch Schule.” During National Socialism laws became stricter and Fred Leser had to change the school because Jewish students were no longer allowed to attend public, non-Jewish schools. His new school was placed in the Hamburg borough called “Hohleluft.” The school's name was “Talmud Tora Schule.” It still exists today. Fred Leser was deported from Hamburg to Riga. He survived the Holocaust and lives in Fort Myers, Florida and Hamburg now.

Jewish School Life. An Interview with Kurt Goldschmidt and his wife Sonja
Kurt Goldschmidt, our interview partner, is a true Hamburger. In 1923 he was born in Sankt Pauli. Because of his Jewish parents his family was persecuted during National Socialism. As a teenager he was deported to the Ghetto “Theresienstadt” (Terezin). There he met his later wife Sonja. Both survived the holocaust . At the end of the Second World War they emigrated to New York. Even today Kurt Goldschmidt and his wife Sonja visit his hometown Hamburg regularly.

Hannoverscher Bahnhof (Hannover Train Station). Place of Remebrance at Hafen City
This video is about the history of the Hanover train station. This station was used between 1941- 1945 to deport Jews. Today there is a memorial there.
We interviewed Ms. Margret Markert from the Geschichtswerkstatt Wilhelmsburg to inform us about the history of the place.

“Aryanization.” The Company Rappolt & Sons
We have dealt with the topic of “Aryanization.” We asked ourselves what “Aryanization” actually was. We got to the bottom of it. There were many traditional Jewish companies in Hamburg that fell victim to “Aryanization” between 1933-1945, one of which was the company Rappolt & Sons.